


Cats, Bunnies, and Strawberry Flavored Lollipops

by Lyncias



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, kind of fluff I guess?, mentions of Shu and mika, mentions of valkyrie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-12
Updated: 2018-04-12
Packaged: 2019-04-21 23:42:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14296008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyncias/pseuds/Lyncias
Summary: Nazuna had a strange dream in the wee hours of the night





	Cats, Bunnies, and Strawberry Flavored Lollipops

**Author's Note:**

> I was going through my drive and I found this thing that I wrote like a year ago and never posted? Anyways I kinda liked it so I'm going to post it.  
> This is inspired by a book called A Little Life where one of the characters follow his friends around and take photos of them at various points in the day and paint those photos
> 
> Thank you for clicking and I hope you enjou <33!

_2:34 A.M._

Nazuna had a strange dream.

He was standing on a stage of deep red and burnt gold and blinding lights. Behind him, gears were clicking and turning. He felt strange and uneasy and somewhere deep down in his guts he knew something was wrong. In the distance he heard a song. Sad and hoarse and broken. A swan song.

Nazuna looked around and tried to find the source of the music, but every time it seemed like he was about to find the origin of the music or capture whoever was making the sound, it slips through his fingers, running, hiding, smirking at his failure like a giggling child. Then, as sudden as it had started, the swan came to an abrupt death.

_2:38 A.M._

Nazuna started awake in his bed. He was soaked in sweat. He laid still for most of the night, weighed down by nostalgia and a nameless sadness that permeated his every cell and made him want to weep.

_5:53 A.M._

Nazuna blinked lazily and let darkness envelop him.

_7:19 A.M._

Nazuna climbed out of his bed after what felt like five seconds of sleep. His entire body was drenched in sweat. His limbs were weak and heavy, as if he had just ran a hundred miles without stopping. He shuddered when his feet hit the cold floor.

He went downstairs, rubbing the fatigue out of his eyes. His parents had already left for work. Either that or they had never came home the night before. He cook himself a simple breakfast and sat down by the empty table. He didn’t felt like eating, but he did anyway. He clapped two times before he started eating.

_7:45 A.M._

Nazuna slipped his shoes on and shouldered his bag. He turned and called to the empty house, “I’ll be on my way.”

He half expected a reply.

_8:02 A.M._

Nazuna was almost at the school when a black cat brushed past him. It stopped and rubbed itself on Nazuna’s leg. “You like people, don’t you?” He smiled as he scratched the creature behind its ears. The cat purred.

The cat meowed and raised its eyes. Nazuna found himself dumbstruck when its eyes of blue and golden focused on his red ones.

_8:15 A.M._

Nazuna was the second one in the room. Kuro, the first one, had his head down. His attention wholly focused on what he was sewing. Nazuna sat down in his seat.

“Morning,” Kuro said.

“Good morning,” Nazuna smiled. He put his bag down and walked over to his classmate. He saw the fabric was the color of red wine and burnt gold. Nazuna remembered his dream in dreary details.

Sensing his gaze, Kuro glanced at his work. He blinked, then placed the dress into his bag. The two sat in silence for a moment, Nazuna searching through his mind for a sentence, a word to say. All he could think of was his dream and that was the last thing he wanted to talk about.

The door opened. They both turned and saw Tsumugi walked inside.

“Morning, Tsumugi,” Nazuna said, glad to have a reason to end the silence.

“It’s a glorious morning, isn’t it?” Tsumugi said as he dropped his bag onto his table.

_12:23 A.M._

Hajime and Tomoya came to find Nazuna to go to lunch together. Hajime smiled sweetly and asked whether Nazuna wanted to go to the cafeteria or the shop.

“You can have some of mine, if you want to, nii-chan,” Hajime said. Nazuna remembered that he had forgotten to pack his own lunch. He blamed the dream.

In the end, Nazuna felt slightly embarrassed about taking his younger friend’s food, so he went and bought some bread at the school shop. As they were making their way up to the roof, Nazuna remembered that cat he saw earlier, and how he used to come here all by himself a year ago.

_1:01 P.M._

Nazuna didn’t realize he had fallen asleep until he woke up. He was alone on the ceiling, the last thing he remembered was telling Hajime and Tomoya that they should go to classes.

It was dreamless, a dark abyss of unconsciousness. He felt he had been sleeping for years, and when he woke up, for a split second, he had forgotten where he was, who he was, and what he was.

_5:12 P.M._

There wasn’t practice for Rab*its after school, so Nazuna decided to stay after and sort everything through at the broadcast committee. He trust the underclassmen, of course. In fact, Makoto was even better than he was back when he first started. They were still inexperienced, however, and Nazuna wanted make sure that everything was in order.

Afterwards, as he was making his way out of the school he heard a cry, and saw Tomoya dashing towards him. If Nazuna wasn't mistaken, he saw a glimmer of tear. Tomoya saw him, and stumbled to a skidding stop in front of him.

“Nii-chan!” Tomoya cried. “Help me!”

_“Tomoya-kun! Where are you? Come here and let me transform you with my own two hands! Let us transcend from this mundane realm into a world of amazingness!”_

Nazuna recalled first meeting Tomoya. He always wanted to laugh. “Come here,” he told Tomoya. He guided the boy to a nearby bush, “shhh,” he said, “I’ll take care of it.” Tomoya nodded gratefully.

It didn’t take long for Nazuna to encounter Wataru. “Oh my,” Wataru said, “isn’t this our little bunny.”

“How have you been, Wataru?” Nazuna asked. “You weren’t in class today,” he added.

“I apologize for my absence,” the magician said. “Have you missed me?”

“Yes,” Nazuna smiled and told him. “You were very dearly missed.”

Wataru stared at him for a few moments. “Your smile has gotten so beautiful,” he said, “I see that Shu was right, after all.”

_5:42 P.M._

Nazuna ran into that cat again. Its beautiful black coat was shiny under the dying sunset. The cat narrowed its blue and yellow eyes, staring at Nazuna. It was so clear and bright.

“Do you like sweets?” Nazuna asked. The cat purred and licked its paw. Then it nudged Nazuna’s hand with its head, and disappeared into the bushes. Nazuna looked down at his hand. He could still feel the warmth of the cat with mismatched eyes. The feeling of the cat lingered at his fingertips the way the warmth of a youth with mismatched eyes still linger in his heart sometimes.

_5:59 P.M._

Nazuna walked home slowly. As he approached his house, he realized the windows were bright and lit. His parents were home. That was a rare occurrence.

“I’m home!” He called out as he closed the door behind him.

“Welcome back, dear,” his mother replied. Judging by the sound, she was in the kitchen.

Nazuna walked into the living room and found his father on the couch, watching the television. A special about Yumenosaki was on. “Hey,” his father said, “welcome back. Say, wasn’t that your group?” He pointed to the screen. Nazuna glanced at it. He knew what clip was playing before his brain could even process the deep, rich colors and the gears that decorated the stage. He watched himself and Mika twirling around Shu, as emotionless and precise as dolls.

Nazuna felt his mouth going dry. He remembered his dream. He remembered the song in his dream and the broken voices. He remember his own swan song, his tight throat and hoarse voice.

“Dinner’s ready!” his mother called. That snapped Nazuna back into reality.

“Yes, mother,” he replied. His father pushed himself off of the couch and turned off the TV. As they were walking to the dining room, his father clamped him on the shoulder. “I went to your performance,” he said. “The one a few weeks ago. It was so much better than before.”

Nazuna looked at his father. He didn't know his father had gone to that dream fes. “But we lost,” he said.

“That isn’t the point,” his father told him. “That group, Val-val…”

“Valkyrie?”

“Yes, that. You know, you’re right. They put up a much better show, sure. But, son, I’m not talking about Valkyrie. I’m talking about you. You smiled up there when you’re with the little ones. I don’t know if anyone has ever told you. You have an amazing smile. You really should smile more.” His father patted Nazuna on the back. “I am proud of you.”

_7:27 P.M._

Nazuna sent his unit mates a message after dinner. _Let’s meet tomorrow afternoon for practice,_ he texted. _It’s ok if you guys can’t make it though. I know it’s on short notice._

 _Of course,_ Hajime replied almost immediately. _I have no work tomorrow._

 _Anytime nii-chan asks,_ Mitsuru texted after a few minutes.

 _I can make it,_ Tomoya replied. _Where should we meet?_

 _How about the roof?_ Nazuna asked.

 _That sounds great. It’s going to be a bit chilly tomorrow, though, so please don’t forget to bring clothes._ Hajime said.

 _Alright. See you all tomorrow!_ Nazuna said.

9:13 P.M.

Nazuna found a strawberry flavored lollipop in his bag. The candy left a strange feeling in his mouth, like it was coated by a thick layer of sugar. He was sorting through his closet when he found the clothes Mika made for him for his birthday last year.

He touched the fabric, his hand jerking back as soon as he felt the softness under his fingers, as if he had just touched something ancient and precious that would fade to dust if he handles it improperly.

He also found his old Valkyrie uniform, sitting quietly at the bottom of the closet. He remembered the awe and admiration he felt as he watched Shu making them, his fingers flying, waltzing with needles and threads of a thousand colors.

_10:47 P.M._

Nazuna climbed into bed and turned off the light. As he laid there, awake in the darkness, he remembered his new friends. His little bunnies. He wondered what it would be like if he hadn’t meet them.

Then he remembered suddenly the conversation he had with Shu and Mika the first time he saw them on stage after the incident. He remembered the afternoons in the handicraft club’s activity room. He remembered Shu and Mika’s faces and their smiles.

And so, he smiled. In the darkness, where no one could see it, he smiled. Despite the tightness in his chest and the lump in his throat, he smiled.

_10:53 P.M._

Nazuna Nito was still smiling when he fell into sleep's sweet embrace.


End file.
